Pobation



UNrTEp STATES PATENT ernten. Y

OWEN RAY SKELTON, OF DETROIT, MICHI GAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE STUDEBAKER COR- PORATION, A CORPORATION 01E NEW `JERSEY.

LAMP sUrronT AND nEFLEo'ron.

To all whom it mai] concern: i l Be it known that I, OWENRAY SKnL'roN, a citizen of the United States of Amerlca,

lA common drawback in automobile lamps,

as generally constructed, resides in the fact that they are difficult to adjust whenonce in position on a vehicle, and, as Ina'aimum` efficiency of the lamps can only be gained by their proper inclination and adjustment to` direction, it is desirable that the lamp construction be such that adjustment of the lamp may be made at' will, in a simple and eicient manner, -and without the necessity -of complicating the parts oradding tothe expense of manufacture of lamps as now made. p

In the preferred embodiment of this 1 nventiOn, a rigid support is provided which is adapted tov be secured, in any suitable manner, to a vehicle, and with this rigid support coperates a lamp and reflector which are mcasedin a lsuitable housing.y

The housing and support are shaped .to cooperate with` one another-so thatthe housing may be moved relative to the fixed support, but may be locked in any of its 'many j positions by simple and convenientmeans. The Wiring to the lamp andall of the ad- `junctsassociated therewith are concealed withinv the support and housingfand the organization of the parts is such that a very Vcompact and sightly structure is produced, which is, in itself. of marked simplicity.

Features oi".` ,the invention, other than those specified, will-be apparent from the hereinafter detailed: description `taken in conjunction with' the accompanying draw- In thc accompanying drawings I have. j

mnut E is screwed into position, itwill notfbe illustrated one .j)racticilibntbodiinent of the invention, but the construction shown there` Specification of Letters Patent.

` tion. and resildent of Detroit, in the county 'of .Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

' Application led February 29, 1916. Serial No. 81,089.

inis to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as dening the limits of the inven- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a lamp Isupport and reflector embodying the present ini vention: In said figure, certain parts are shown in central section 1n the interest of clearness. Figs. 2 and 3 are front and side 'f reie'ctor in fixed position onthe supporting standard.

a hollow vor tubular .supporting standard,

fp'rovided `at its base with a flange a, by

means of which the'standard maybejreadily "secured in fixed position lon a motor vehicle Aby `.`s uitable mean`s, such' as bolts j ,or screws passing through apertures o'. The l upper portiony B of standard A is dished or con- Fig. 4 1s an underneath Referring to the drawings, A designates cave, 1'.. e., curved or rounded in themanner of the surface of a sphere when viewedfrom a seat for the base of a corgrespondingly shaped lamp and, reiiectorA housing C, las

`shown in Fig. 1.

With the :parts cooperating as specified, the dished portion B of the standard lserves `as a. bearing or seat, for reector C, and said' '-reiiector may be shifted` about` in .its seat `because of the engagement of the coperating, ,correspondingly shaped, curved surfaces. The reficctor is..however,` normally held yin a predetermined position in ,engagement. wlth its seat by meansof a bolt 'Di which passes through an aperture d intjje lits center, whereby itis adapted to serve as rear of housing C, through an aperture o ,in

th partB of the standard, and adapted 4to `be engaged by a nut E'exterior and tothe rear oflmember B. A washer plate e is interposed between 'the head of bolt D and the interior-of housing C so as to distribute the strainA placed upon said housing? Aby vthe boltandintermediate nut E and the/ex-l rterior of portion B is positioned a `washer e for the same purpose. Bolt D' is pref- 4cerably recessed toreceive ay gasket e of leather, rubber or theflike, softhat, when apt to work loose, as the friction between gasket c2 and the abutting face of washer c' will adequately preclude such loosening. Thus, when the holt and nut are in coperative engagement, with the nut in its tight cned position, such tightening ol the nut will cause the exterior surface of'housing C to engage with the interior (lished surface of the seat portion B with such a high degree of friction as to adequately preclude relative movement of thevparts. To allow of the adjust-nient of housing C relative to standard A, however, the aperture or hole b at the back of the dislied portion B is made soinevf'hat larger than the diameter of bolt D, with the result that, when nut E is loosened, housing C may be rotated within its seat to properly adjust the position of said housing. This movement which the housing may partake of is only limited by the size of the aperture 7) in the seat B, and, accordingly, the size of such aperture determines the degree of adjustment to` which the lamp is susceptible.

Reflector housing C has mounted interior `thereof a reflector c, and upon reflector c is mounted a lamp socket c adapted to .receive a lamp c. Socket o is secured toreflector c in such manner that lamp c2, when positioned in its socket, will be in the center of curvature or in the focus of reflector c. position of the socket relative to the reflector 1s determined at `the time of making the lamp, and is fixed thereafter so that the relation between the source of' light and the reflecting surface cannot be varied by an amateur, but will alwi ys remain correct.

Mounted on housing C of the reflector, and so positioned thereon as to extend downwardly into the hollow base of support A, `is a second socket or plug F, to which current for the lamp is led through a cable f.

or beoome disconnected.

With` socket F cooperates a plug F secured to the end of a cable f' leading lo socket c of 'the lamp. It will he noted that all of the electrical connections to the lamp are concealed within housing C and standard A, and, accordingly, they do not form iin- Sightly projections, as is frequently the case inlainps. Moreover, they are so constructed and'arranged that, when initially installed and connected, they will not get out of order When automobile lamps are either niounted, or frequently become, out of adjustment, .the degree of adjustment necessary to bring them hack into correst position is not great, since, as a general rule, a very minute movement of the reflector is suflicient to true-up `preferably intersect at some distant point of the reflector.

forwardly of' the machine. The chauffeur, noticing that one of his lamps is out of ad justinent, can readily correct the difficulty by loosening nut E and turning casing (l perhaps two or three degrees nearer thc lother light, and again tightening nut E to lock the parts in place. The correcting of the discrepancy requires only a few seconds, and is more than worth while because of the advantage gained by having the lamps properlyadjusted for fast and sure driving, particularly along country roads where the chauffeur must depend entirely upon .his finders for a view of the road.

One important, practical advantage of adjusting the reflector, its housing and its lamp bodily, is the fact that no matter into what position housing C may be moved, lamp c2 will always he in proper position relative to the reflector. It is well understood that, to gain maximum efficiency in the reflecting of light, the source of light should be at the center of curvature or focus Accordingly, in lamps wherein either the reflector or source of light is .moved relative to the other, to determine the adjustment of the lamp, it is very seldom that an amateur, in making the adjustment, will leave the lamp and its reflector in their proper cooperative relations. With the present invention, however, the vital parts of the lamp are fixed relative to `one another and are moved together as described, so that maximum efficiency of the dispensation of light is not altered during the manipulations of adjusting the lamp as a whole Another feature of advantage in this invention is the fact that all of the electrical connections to the lamp are concealedl They do not, therefore, detract from the esthetic appearance of the lamp, and, at the saine time, are so positioned that they cannot be tampered with by inexperienced persons. Lastly, the simplicity of' the structure, taken in conjunction with the simple manner-iii which it may be adjusted and locked against inadvertent movement, make the device of the present invention highly meritorious and eflicient as a lighting medium for motor vehicles.

While it is primarily intended for motor vehicles, the present invention is not -restricteil Lo such environment, as it is, inanilestly, adapted for a broader field of use, such, ci g., as on motor-boats or other uses where an adjustable lamp is desirable or advantageous.

Having thus fully described the. inven- 'z5 i means clamping the housing-)and coning a housing,1a` portion of which is conl. withthe concave portion Tof the standard.

tion, what I claim asnew; and desire to seing through an aperture' in the housing l' and, 'o l cure by LettersB-atent, ist gl v l extending throu h the aperture -iu'the con- 11.1?A .device of` 'the .class describedemcave portion, ang a nut on said boltv for lockbodying alstanddrd""-muvlileiwith 'a corky ing the lamp housing against-movementon cave#portion-having anlapeture, a lamp its su port. t

housing shaped te fomjto and engage` 6. ,device of the class described embodyfland.providedwitha threadedfstem exten'dconvex,v and a projection" .extending enteril ling through-ftheaperture,iny said portion, `riorly of the housing at the convex portion l()v said 'aperture being larger than. the, "stem thereof, in combination witha-ixed support-if whereby the housingl may beoscillated about provided with a concave portion in whichjf'sf the center/of curvature of the y'concave' por- Y seated the complementary convexportion'of tionwhi le inengagementgvithsaid portion, the' housing, with the concave and convex suchv movement.` the lamp housingextending through an ap` the stem for locking thdhonsing 2. A deviceofthelclass embody' erture,A of greater: area-,than the projection,

' ing a supporting'y member adapted .to ,p be formed in the lconcaveportion,` whereby the' moimtedin'ixed positionand provided with housing may be oscillated. about the common 20 a concavef-porticma' lamphousing.. Shapedrgjceriter of curvature vof the complementary .to conferir-rito and?engagefwithithe concavexcurv'ed; surfaces to secure angular,k adjusts 4 vportionoit; the supportinggmeniber whereby, rnent', and means `coperating with the-pron `the housing may beLoscillatedabout the cene lj'ection forV locking the- '4 ousing against ter of*v curvature oftheiconcave portion movement to the xed support.

while',l in; face" engagementtherewith, and.V "37, -A deviceoffthe class described embodycave portion together ini face engagement to, Vex, and interiorly of which housing is a A preclude such oscillation.

y j refiector,`and an electric lamp mounted in 3. ,A device of the class described embodya; ixed p'ositidnl relative thereto, inv combinaing a 4supporting member adapted to 'fbeit tion with a lixed, hollow standard provided mounted in xed'position and providedwith with .a concave 'portion complementary to a concave portion, alamp housing shaped the conveX portion of the housing, meansfor to vconform to and engage with the connormally locking the housing to the standcave portion of the supporting member ard against relative movement, with the 7s' `and -a threaded memberA coperating with acesof the respective partsin engagement agalnst with one another and with thepro1ection of whereby the housinginay be oscillated about complementary curved surfacesl in engagev the center of curvature of the rconcave porment,-and `electrical connections for the y l tion while in engagement therewith,- and'4 lamp,'said connections being housed in conl means for locking the housing against rel-acealed positions withink the hollow standard tive movement to the concave portion, with and interiorly of the lamp housings l the 'concave'and convex faces of the respec- ,i tive parts in engagement with one another.- ing a housing, a portion of which is convex,

4. fA-dev'ice of the class described embody and interiorly of which housing is a reecing a lamp'housing, au portion. of whichV is tor, fand an electric lamp mountedin fixed convex, which housing is provided interiorly position relative thereto, in combination with a reiectoi and a lamp mounted in fixed' with aA hollowv stagrdard,y one end of which position. `relative thereto', in,4 combination is iinedly secured; to aslport and the other with a fixed support provided with a conend of whichisp'govi e cave Portion complementary to the convex portion complementary to the fixed ortion,

8. A device of the class described embodyni with a concave 110 portion of the housing, and means for nor- .of .the housing', means' for normally ocking,

mally locking the housing to the support the housing to the-standard against relative against relative movement, with their com` movenent, with the" complementary curved plementarily shaped portions in engagement surfacesan'engagement, and electric connec- Jus with one another, said means being operable tionsfflethe amp, said connections being ing shaped to'conform tosaid` concave per# 1 1 f to allow v low described embodyhousing. .i f

26th-da 'o Februar 16.

tion `,and seated therein, with 'the concave` Witnesses: .v b c and convex facfesnf. the respective-parts in Roy C. Gmane, l engagement with one another, a boit pass R; E. sonaron.

the lamp housed-inconcealed positions within the holstandard and interiorly of the jlamp signed b s aan Degen, Mangan, uns4 v RAY-y SKELTON; 

